Sen. Richard Blumenthal Wednesday blasted critics of the nomination of B. Todd Jones to be the first permanent ATF director in seven years and said their real motive was to undermine the mission of the agency — to enforce gun laws.

Blumenthal, D-Conn., a former U.S. attorney and long-time Connecticut attorney general, said he was speaking as a veteran law enforcer and a member of the U.S. Senate in urging that the Senate Judiciary Committee approve Jones for the job, a post that he has held on an acting basis since 2011.

Jones should be confirmed for the top job because resources and leadership are needed to enforce existing gun laws, Blumenthal told reporters.

At his confirmation hearing last month, Jones told senators that upon his arrival at ATF, he found “agency in distress. Poor morale undermined the efforts of the overwhelming majority of ATF.’’ He said he had cleaned house, replacing virtually all the bureau’s senior managers and special agents in charge of ATF’s 25 field divisions in an effort to get it back on track fighting violent gun crime.

Jones also serves as U.S. attorney in Minnesota and splits his time between Washington and Minneapolis.

Congress in 2006 required Senate confirmation of the ATF director. But the Senate has never confirmed anyone to serve in the position.

“We need to break this gridlock and logjam,’’ Blumenthal said.

He noted that opponents of new federal gun laws such as expanded background checks claim they want more enforcement of existing laws “but then they prevent the effective leadership that is needed to provide more enforcement’’ through what he called the “arrogant abuse of the confirmation process.’’

Blumenthal is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that is expected to take up Jones’ nomination on Thursday.

Although the nomination is likely to pass the Democratic-controlled committee, its future on the Senate floor is more problematic. Jones’ backers may fail to muster the 60 votes necessary to overcome likely opposition from Republicans and even a few Democrats from pro-gun states.

Blumenthal said opponents of the Jones’ nomination object to the ATF mission rather than the individual. “They are undercutting the agency by preventing a vote on the president’s nominee.’’

Members of the gun-violence prevention lobby echoed Blumenthal’s comments. They included Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence; David Chipman, a former ATF agent and now an advisor to Mayors Against Illegal Guns; and Brad Woodhouse, president of American United for Change.

Chipman, a 25-year veteran of ATF, said a permanent, full-time ATF director was crucial because “we need someone talking daily about what the plan is, we would have someone accountable for the plan.’’